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This paper aims to explore the relationship between prudence in risk attitudes and patience of time preference of Chinese apple growers regarding off-farm cold storage of production and marketing in non-harvest seasons. The authors also consider the effect of farmer participation in cooperative-like organizations known as Farm Bases (FBs).

The authors use multiple list methods and elicitation strategies to measure Chinese apple farmers' risk attitudes and time preferences. Because these farmers can either sell their apples immediately to supermarkets or intermediaries or place them in storage, the authors assess correlations between their storage decisions and their preferences regarding risk and time. The authors also differentiate risks involving gains and losses and empirically examine individual risk attitudes in different scenarios.

Marketing decisions are moderately associated with risk attitudes but not time preference. Farmers with memberships in local farmer cooperatives are likely to speculate more in cold storage. Thus, risk aversion behavioral and psychological motives affect farmers' decision-making of cold storage and intertemporal marketing activities. However, membership in cooperatives does not always result in improved income and welfare for farmers.

The research confirms that behavioral factors may strongly drive vulnerable smallholder farmers to speculate into storage even under seasonal and uncertain marketing volatility. There is the need to think deeper about the rationale of promoting cooperatives and other agricultural forms, because imposing these without careful consideration can have negative impacts.

Do risk and time preferences affect the decision of farmers to utilize storage facilities? This question is important because it is not clear if and how risk preferences affect the tradeoff between consuming today and saving for tomorrow, especially for farmers in developing countries.

This paper aims to improve operational efficiency and minimize accident frequency in cold storage facilities through adopting an effective occupational safety and health program. The hidden knowledge can be extracted from the warehousing operations to create the comfortable and safe workplace environment.

A fuzzy association rule-based knowledge management system is developed by integrating fuzzy association rule mining (FARM) and rule-based expert system (RES). FARM is used to extract hidden knowledge from real operations to establish the relationship between safety measurement, personal constitution and key performance index measurement. The extracted knowledge is then stored and adopted in the RES to establish an effective occupational and safety program. Afterwards, a case study is conducted to validate the performance of the proposed system.

The results indicate that the aforementioned relationship can be built in the form of IF-THEN rules. An appropriate safety and health program can be developed and applied to all workers, so that they can follow instructions to prevent cold induced injuries and also improve the productivity.

Because of the increasing public consciousness of occupational safety and health, it is important for the workers in cold storage facilities where the ambient temperature is at/below 10°C. The proposed system can address the social problem and promote the importance of occupational safety and health in the society.

This study contributes to the knowledge management system for improving the occupational safety and operational efficiency in the cold storage facilities.

Wastage and post-harvest losses in food value chains are becoming increasingly debated and policies are being increasingly designed to reduce food wastages. Despite its presumed importance, there is large variation in the importance and type of food losses and wastage. We identify the levels of food wastage at various levels of the potato food chain for three Asian countries.

Surveys were fielded to better measure the important variation between value chain agents, to capture wastage at each level, to analyze the structure of the value chain, and to evaluate wastage over the whole value chain (except for consumption). We generate data on an important staple in these countries and analyze the importance of waste in domestic rural-urban food value chains, often the most important value chain in these countries.

We find total quantities of potatoes wasted are equal to 5.2% in the harvest period and 6.4% in the off-season of all quantities that enter the value chain for Bangladesh. Even lower numbers are obtained in India (3.2% and 3.3%, respectively). These wastage levels are higher in China, possibly because of the significantly longer distances that potatoes are shipped.

The use of cold storage facilities can minimize the level of wastage in the potato distribution chain. Studies of this type of storage for other countries and commodities can identify opportunities in which adoption of cold storage can provide the greatest contributions toward the elimination of food wastage.

This study focuses on a specific method of meat production that involves carcass purchase and meat production by packing facilities with a novel two-stage model that simultaneously considers location-routing and inventory-production operating decisions. The considered problem aims to reduce variable and fixed transportation and production costs, inventory holding cost and the cost of opening cold storage facilities.

The proposed model encompasses a two-stage model consisting of a single-echelon and a three-echelon many-to-many network with deterministic demand. The proposed model is a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model which was tested with the general algebraic modelling system (GAMS) software for a real-world case study in Iran. A sensitivity analysis was performed to examine the effect of retailers' holding capacity and supply capacity at carcass suppliers.

In this research, the number of products transferred at each level, the number of products held, the quantity of red meat produced, the required cold storage facilities and the required vehicles were optimally specified. The outcomes indicated a two percent (2%) decrease in cost per kg of red meat. Eventually, the outcomes of the first and second sensitivity analysis indicated that reduced retailers' holding capacity and supply capacity at carcass suppliers leads to higher total costs.

This research proposes a novel multi-period location-inventory-routing problem for the red meat supply chain in an emerging economy with a heterogeneous vehicle fleet and logistics decisions. The proposed model is presented in two stages and four-echelon including carcass suppliers, packing facilities, cold storage facilities and retailers.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether new store locations by two incumbent supermarket chains in Singapore were consistent with a preemptive strategy.

The methodology involved collecting store location data and using a geographical technique (Thiessen polygons) for inferring the existence of a preemptive strategy.

The analyses revealed that while NTUC Fairprice’s (the dominant incumbent) new store location strategy was consistent with a preemptive strategy, the second ranked player’s (Cold Storage) was not. Being the dominant incumbent, NTUC Fairprice had the incentive (protect its dominant position) as well as ability (scale, low costs and a merchandise mix that appealed to the mass market) to adopt a preemptive strategy. Cold Storage, on the other hand, lacked both the incentive (appeal to the narrow expatriate segment) and the ability (scale or low costs) to follow a preemptive location strategy.

The analyses did not distinguish between the opening of large vs small stores because the data on store sizes were not available. The analyses focused on an earlier time period because the implementation of the analytical technique (construction of polygons) was more feasible during the timeframe.

The paper identifies conditions under which it may be appropriate for firms to follow a preemptive strategy.

The paper adopts a highly appropriate methodology (Thiessen polygons) that takes into account the locations of own as well as competitor’s stores for analyzing the new store locations by supermarket chains. The paper’s conclusions about the conditions under which preemptive strategies are likely to be adopted can be useful to future researchers as well as managers.

July 17, 1972 Industrial Relations — Action in tort — High Court — Discretion and obligation to stay proceedings — Injurious acts complained of before Industrial Court — Interim order made by Industrial Court — Proceedings in High Court complaining of same acts — Whether acts prevented from being actionable in tort — Whether High Court should stay proceedings — Industrial Relations Act 1971 (c.72) ss. 61(1), 131(1), (2) and (3), 132(4).

This study proposes strategies for vaccine center allocation for coronavirus disease (COVID) vaccine by determining the number of vaccination stations required for the vaccination drive, location of vaccination station, assignment of demand group to vaccination station, allocation of the scarce medical professional teams to station and number of optimal days a vaccination station to be functional in a week.

The authors propose a mixed-integer nonlinear programming model. However, to handle nonlinearity, the authors devise a heuristic and then propose a two-stage mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) formulation to optimize the allocation of vaccination centers or stations to demand groups in the first stage and the allocation of vaccination centers to cold storage links in the second stage. The first stage optimizes the cost and average distance traveled by people to reach the vaccination center, whereas the second stage optimizes the vaccine’s holding and storage and transportation cost by efficiently allocating cold storage links to the centers.

The model is studied for the real-world case of Chandigarh, India. The results obtained validate that the proposed approach can immensely help government agencies and policymaking body for a successful vaccination drive. The model tries to find a tradeoff between loss due to underutilized medical teams and the distance traveled by a demand group to get the vaccination.

To the best of our knowledge, there are hardly any studies on a vaccination program at such a scale due to sudden outbreaks such as Covid-19.

Yoghurt consists of approximately 60 per cent of per capita dairy consumption of Iranian people. Iranian dairy factories use commercial starters which are expensive in yoghurt production. Moreover, yoghurt produced by these starters does not completely meet the taste of Iranian consumers. The aims of this study are to produce well qualified yoghurt from isolated native starters and to evaluate microbial, chemical and organoleptic characteristics of products.

The microflora of Iranian native yoghurts were isolated, purified and identified. The isolated strains were used as starter for the production of yoghurts. Sensory evaluation and measurement of pH, acidity and acetaldehyde content of the samples were carried out. Acidity, pH, acetaldehyde content, and microbial population of the best samples were measured during 21 days of cold storage. SPSS software was used for statistical analysis.

During the above mentioned storage period, acidity and acetaldehyde content increased significantly (p < 0.05). Significant decreases (p < 0.05) were observed in pH and microbial population. No significant difference in organoleptic characteristics (taste, smell and texture) were found after 21 days of cold storage.

Yoghurt production by native starter cultures instead of commercial ones is beneficial in respect of both economic and organoleptic aspects. The results indicate that the use of isolated native yoghurt starters in manufacturing yoghurt can be satisfactory and can also be extended to the production of yoghurt on an industrial scale.

Agriculture diversification acts as income enhancing as well as distress mitigating strategy. India has witnessed rise in per-capita income which in turn has increased the demand for food particularly high-valued food items but agricultural production has failed to keep pace with the growing demand. The purpose of this paper is to examine spatio-temporal variations in agricultural diversification (AD) in India. Second, the authors try to identify the determinants of AD. Third, the authors examine the convergence hypothesis with reference to agriculture diversification across Indian states.

The study is based on the panel data constituting 20 major states of India during 1990–1991 to 2013–2014. It uses Simpson Diversification Index to measure AD. The heteroskedasticity-corrected panel regression model is applied to find out the determinants of AD. The fixed-effects model is used to examine β-convergence in AD across the sample states. Alternative time series models are applied to examine σ-convergence in AD.

The rising per-capita income and urbanization are driving dietary diversity towards high-valued crops and providing ample opportunity for AD. But poor and inadequate cold storage facility and rising cost of cultivation are posing major hindrance to it. Small land holding and road length have negatively influenced AD which is contrary to the traditional wisdom. The study found divergence in diversification and rising inequality in diversification.

The study is based on secondary data. A primary study to complement this could have been better. It is only based on one country.

Food inflation has serious adverse effect on the society at large. It is necessary to promote AD for controlling food price inflation. Minimum support price provided by the government should be extended to all crops; otherwise, it will fuel inflation. Given the fact fragmentation of land holding is adversely affecting AD, community based farming and consolidation of farm land should be the way forward to improve farmers’ income as well as reduce risk.

To best of the authors’ study, this is the first study that examines determinants of AD and convergence in AD during the high growth period of India.

By the beginning of the war, Germany's over‐all self‐sufficiency in food had reached a level of approximately 83 per cent., on the peace‐time basis of 2,200—2,400 calories per person per day. In respect to some types of food, however, the situation was not satisfactory. For example, before the war she produced approximately 73 per cent. of fish requirements, 12 per cent. of corn, 50 per cent. of legumes, and 60 per cent. of fat within her own boundaries. The country could be fed at a reduced level by the produce raised within its own boundaries if food were perfectly controlled and evenly distributed. However, in practice, individual provinces were much less favourably situated in this respect. Western Germany, an area of relatively small and diversified farms, was critically dependent on the eastern provinces for its flour, grain, and potato supplies. It is clear that all German civilians could be fed at a uniform level of adequacy during a war only by control of the country's food supply at the national level and by the continued operation of the new transportation network of the country. For this reason the bombing of rail and inland water transportation facilities became such a serious threat to national uniformity in food distribution. Of the many kinds of centralised food processing industries known in the United States, only a few played an important role in the food supply of German civilians. The principal examples of these were grain milling, sugar production and refining, and the large bakeries of urban areas. The damage or destruction of these facilities, incidental to air attack on other industrial targets, seriously decreased their production capacity. Bombing destroyed the mills for processing 9 per cent. of the German rye output and 35 per cent. of the wheat output. Of the sugar refineries four plants producing 300,000 tons annually, were destroyed. This represents a 38 per cent. decrease in production of sugar. Similarly bombing of chemical plants was largely responsible for the decrease in the supply for fertiliser nitrogen. In 1939, 718,000 tons of fertiliser nitrogen were available, but by 1945 this had decreased to 140,000 tons. The significance of this destruction of facilities vital to the feeding of a country already on a border‐line diet is ominous. Reliable estimates indicate that aerial bombings destroyed 35 per cent. of Germany's total (approximately 460,000 square metres) cold storage capacity. The increased use of cold storage intensified their dependence on transportation and on the continuity of the power supply. Aerial attack, as a result, not only decreased usable cold storage space, but also seriously interfered with the operation of the remaining space by impeding shipments and interrupting sources of power. It was the constantly reiterated opinion of all food officials that the bomb destruction of the transportation network was the largest single factor contributing to the disruption of the food supply. Bulk shipments which had been carried on inland waterways were seriously impeded by the bombing of canals. Aerial attack against railway lines, bridges and terminal facilities caused widespread interruptions in service and destroyed rolling stock, freight en route and handling facilities at terminals. It is not possible at this time to state exactly in what measure the curtailment of the national diet contributed to the ultimate defeat of Germany. The evidence available indicates, however, that it was an important factor. There is in any case no doubt that strategic bombing is the major element contributing to the present shortage of food in Germany. It was not apparent that the Germans considered the vitamin and mineral content of food in determining the ration allowances of the people. Immediately with the beginning of the war, all the principal foods were rationed, so that the lack of recognition of the importance of the vitamin and mineral content of this ration actually was an additional point of vulnerability for the German diet. With a food economy so vulnerable it is not surprising to have found that the basic food rationing programme was abandoned early in 1945 when the destruction of transport and communications by the strategic air offensive attained major proportions. This necessitated falling back on the inadequate system of regional self‐supply. The destruction of large food stocks, processing plants and cold storage plants by bombing also contributed to the general deterioration of the German food supply. There is ample evidence for the conclusion that as a result of the strategic air offensive the nutritional demands for the continued health of the German people could not be met.